Prime Minister's Office Rejects US Ambassador's Corridor Statement

Armenia discusses the unblocking of regional infrastructure exclusively in the context of the Republic of Armenia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction. Armenia has not discussed and is not discussing outsourcing control over its own sovereign territory to any third party. Nazeli Baghdasaryan, the spokesperson for the Prime Minister of the RA, stated this in response to questions from "Armenpress".

Question: The US Ambassador to Turkey, speaking about unblocking regional transport infrastructure, mentioned the possibility of the US leasing a part of RA's sovereign territory, through which, according to the ambassador, the "Zangezur corridor" would be implemented. How would you comment on this statement?

Answer: The nomenclature you mentioned is not acceptable to the Republic of Armenia. Also, we have repeatedly said that Armenia discusses the unblocking of regional infrastructure exclusively in the context of the RA's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction. We cannot discuss any other logic. As for leasing land, RA legislation has such an institution only for agricultural lands where agricultural activities are carried out. Therefore, the option mentioned by the US ambassador is not possible.

Question: And perhaps the US ambassador meant outsourcing the control of the road?

Answer: The RA has not discussed and is not discussing outsourcing control over its own sovereign territory to any third party. No part of the RA's territory can be outside the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and jurisdiction of the RA.